(Untitled)

[jazzy_fay]

Well, work is boring me out of my skull. As I may or may not have said in an earlier post, they've finally had the windows in the study center tinted, so I can actually open the blinds now (only half way). Unfortunately, the tint is so dark that is always looks like it's overcasted and grey. I think I'm going to end up getting seasonal affective

Comments

[mom0desu]

The windows in the other side of my house (the computer room/den) are like that. I don't mind it since it makes the room so much cooler than it used to be, but I always feel dreary when I'm in there because the clouds always look dark.

[jazzy_fay]

Yeah, I'm also stuck in one of the coldest rooms in the museum even though there's this huge bay window that looks out into a garden that would let in so much warmth and light. Of course, that's exactly what the conservators want to avoid. At home, none of the windows are tinted, but all of the bedrooms are pretty well shaded, so it stays fairly cool and dark, but it's more...natural. If that makes sense.

[akashathekitty]

How many reviews are these "way more than you thought"? (no, not a pissing contest, I'm curious!)

And any kind counts ;)

I don't know the book of which you speak, but I find that a lot of the books I've been reading in later years either lack in research or grammar or, well, plot. I may be overly critical and/or jaded, though. XD

[jazzy_fay]

I think I've had a total of about 16 reviews. I was expecting maybe two or three. I mean, I'm a complete newbie (I've only written a handful of Inuyasha drabbles before this).

I don't think you're jaded, or overly critical. Yes, there is suspension of disbelief, but that doesn't mean that the author doesn't have to do any work at all. Unless the author cares only about selling books and earning royalties, then they should either stick to writing about what they know, or do all that they can to build the most realistic world possible.

[akashathekitty]

16 is very good! Especially for a first chapter, people are always a bit wary about where you're going with the first chapter. Takes a bit to get the ball rolling most days. So consider yourself a success. ;)

I should think a book sells more if the author puts some work into it? Oh, wait, Harry Potter... >_>

*cough*

[jazzy_fay]

Yay! I'm not pathetic! *does happy dance*

Shh! I'm telling you, you keep going around saying things like that, and you'll never roll with the cool kids. Even if you're right.

[fenikkusuken]

Oro?

I didn't find anything glaring about Laurence's dialogue; in fact, I thought Naomi Novik did rather well at recreating the era's formal speech patterns. Jane Austen was obviously an influence.

[jazzy_fay]

I think that the influence of Austen may be exactly what I'm picking up as being "off." Austen was a well-educated woman from a family on the fringes of the English landed gentry (her brother James was made fictive heir for an uncle and inherited both his title and land in order to continue the line). She spent the majority of her life in the countryside. And most importantly, she was female in a time when women were a world apart from men. So she and the characters that she created would not serve as accurate dialectual references for an author who is trying to write a naval officer at a time of war. That would be sort of akin to someone attempting to write a character from New York City by studying the speech patterns of someone from Dothan, Alabama.

But I'm not saying that the book fails or isn't worth the cover price. So far it is entertaining. I'm just pointing out what I personally see as something that detracts from my ability to suspend disbelief.

[fenikkusuken]

It's funny how different things annoy different readers; the language didn't bother me because of my exposure to Patrick O'Brian's 'Jack Aubrey' series of Napoleonic War-era naval novels (he's an Austen fan, too), but some of the late-Victorian social conventions that snuck into this Regency era setting, particularly where they applied to Laurence's colleague Jane, made me go cross-eyed.

[jazzy_fay]

Hmm...I haven't made it that far yet, so I don't know what you're talking about. It'll be interesting to see if I pick up on that like you did.

[akarii]

I think I'm going to end up getting seasonal affective disorder in Florida, in the summer. That'd certainly be a first.

*snorf*

No, hun, I don't think that'll be an easy thing to get. Remember, people like us who live in far shadier areas aren't attracting any trouble of this kind ^__^

In any case, good news on the fanfiction front! Go you!

[jazzy_fay]

lol I know. Personally, I would go completely insane if I lived up where you do. Ergo, I will continue to dream of visiting Britan, but not actually living there.

And thanks!